Synthesist
Rather than summon an Esper to serve by his side, the synthesist fuses his Esper's essence to his own. Instead of two creatures, the synthesist is a fusion of the summoner and Esper into a single being. Abilities Fused Esper A synthesist summons the essence of a powerful outsider to meld with his own being. The synthesist wears the Esper like translucent, living armor. The Esper mimics all of the synthesist’s movements, and the synthesist perceives through the Esper’s senses and speaks through its voice, as the two are now one creature. While fused with his Esper, the synthesist uses the Esper’s physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), but retains his own mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). The synthesist gains the Esper’s hit points as temporary hit points. When these hit points reach 0, the Esper is killed and sent back to its home plane. The synthesist uses the Esper’s base attack bonus, and gains the Esper’s armor and natural armor bonuses and modifiers to ability scores. The synthesist also gains access to the Esper’s special abilities. The synthesist is still limited to the Esper’s maximum number of natural attacks. The Esper has no skills or feats of its own. The Esper must be at least the same size as the synthesist. The Esper must have limbs for the synthesist to cast spells with somatic components. The Esper’s temporary hit points can be restored with the rejuvenate Esper spell. While fused, the synthesist loses the benefits of his armor. He counts as both his original type and as an outsider for any effect related to type, whichever is worse for the synthesist. Spells such as banishment or dismissal work normally on the Esper, but the synthesist is unaffected. Neither the synthesist nor his Esper can be targeted separately, as they are fused into one creature. The synthesist and Esper cannot take separate actions. While fused with his Esper, the synthesist can use all of his own abilities and gear, except for his armor. In all other cases, this ability functions as the summoner’s normal Esper ability (for example, the synthesist cannot use his summon monster ability while the Esper is present). This ability replaces the class’s Esper ability, bond senses, and life bond. Fused Link (Su) Starting at 1st level, the synthesist forms a close bond with his Esper. Whenever the temporary hit points from his Esper would be reduced to 0, the summoner can, as a free action, sacrifice any number of his own hit points. Each hit point sacrificed this way prevents 1 point of damage done to the Esper (thus preventing the loss of the summoner’s temporary hit points), preventing the Esper from being killed and sent back to its home plane. This ability replaces life link. Shielded Meld (Ex) At 4th level, whenever the synthesist is fused with his Esper, he gains a +2 shield bonus to his Armor Class and a +2 circumstance bonus on his saving throws. This ability replaces shield ally. Maker’s Jump (Sp) At 6th level, whenever the synthesist is fused with his Esper, the synthesist can cast dimension door as a spell-like ability using his caster level. This ability only affects the fused synthesist and Esper. The synthesist can use this ability once per day at 6th level, plus one additional time per day for every six levels beyond 6th. This ability replaces maker’s call and transposition. Greater Shielded Meld (Ex) At 12th level, whenever the synthesist is fused with his Esper, he gains a +4 shield bonus to his Armor Class and a +4 circumstance bonuson his saving throws. This ability replaces greater shield ally. Split Forms (Su) At 16th level, as a swift action, the synthesist and his fused Esper can split into two creatures: the synthesist and the Esper. The synthesist emerges in a square adjacent to the Esper if possible. All effects and spells currently targeting the fused synthesist-Esper affect both the synthesist and the Esper. The synthesist can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to his summoner level. He can end this effect at any time as a full-round action. For the duration of this effect, the Esper functions as a normal Esper of the summoner’s class level. This ability replaces merge forms. Category:Archetypes